Everything about Patagonia totally explained
Patagonia is a geographic region containing the southernmost portion of South America. Mostly located in
Argentina and partly in
Chile, it comprises the
Andes mountains to the west and south, and plateau and low plains to the east. The name Patagonia comes from the word
patagon used by Magellan to describe the native people who his expedition thought to be giants. It is now believed the Patagons were actually
Tehuelches and
Aonikenk with an average height of 1.80 m (~5'11") compared to the 1.55 m (~5'1") average for Spaniards of the time.
To the east of the Andes, it lies south of the
Neuquén River and
Colorado rivers, and, to the west of the Andes, south of (39°S), excluding the
Chiloé Archipelago.
East of the Andes the Argentine portion of Patagonia includes the provinces of
Neuquén,
Río Negro,
Chubut,
Santa Cruz, and
Tierra del Fuego, as well as the southern tips of the provinces of
Buenos Aires,
Mendoza and
La Pampa. The Chilean portion embraces the southern part of the region of
Los Lagos, and the regions of
Aisén and
Magallanes. It excludes those portions of
Antarctica claimed by both countries.
Population and land area
Population = 1,740,000 (2001 census).
Land Area = over 900,000 km² including
Tierra del Fuego
SPIRO
Physical geography
» See also: Geography of Argentina and Geography of Chile
Patagonia is for the most part a region of vast
steppe-like plains, rising in a succession of abrupt about 100 metres (330 feet) at a time, and covered with an enormous bed of
shingle almost bare of vegetation.
Vegetation
Due to the wide variation in temperature, precipitation and altitude, there are clear vegetation patterns.
Moorland with
bogs and dwarf
shrubs, termed Magellanic moorland, predominates along the south western coast where there are high winds and precipitation. Around the ice-fields, high rainfall in sheltered areas allows mixed evergreen
temperate rain forest (
Magellanic subpolar forests) of
southern beech (
Nothofagus betuloides). Mixed
deciduous woodland (
Valdivian temperate rain forests) is found in areas of lower precipitation, including
Nothofagus pumilio,
Berberis and
Gunnera magellanica.
Scientific exploration (1764-1842)
In the second half of the 18th century, European knowledge of Patagonia was further augmented by the voyages of the previously-mentioned John Byron (1764–1765),
Samuel Wallis (1766, in the same HMS
Dolphin which Byron had earlier sailed in) and
Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1766).
Thomas Falkner, a Jesuit who resided near forty years in those parts, published his
Description of Patagonia (Hereford, 1774);
Francesco Viedma founded El Carmen, and Antonio advanced inland to the Andes (1782); and
Basilio Villarino ascended the Rio Negro (1782).
Two
hydrographic surveys of the coasts were of first-rate importance: the first expedition (1826–1830) including
HMS Adventure and
HMS Beagle under
Phillip Parker King, and the second (1832–1836) being the
voyage of the Beagle under
Robert FitzRoy. The latter expedition is particularly noted for the participation of
Charles Darwin; however nothing was observed of the interior of the country except for 200 miles (320 km) of the course of the
Santa Cruz river.
Chilean and Argentine expansion (1843-1902)
Following the last instructions of
Bernardo O'Higgins, the Chilean president
Manuel Bulnes sent an expedition to the
Strait of Magellan and founded
Fuerte Bulnes in 1843. Five years later, the Chilean government moved the main settlement to the current location of
Punta Arenas, the oldest permanent settlement in Southern Patagonia. The creation of Punta Arenas was instrumental in making Chile's claim of the Strait of Magellan permanent.
In the mid-19th century the newly-independent nations of Argentina and Chile began an aggressive phase of expansion into the south, increasing confrontation with the indigenous populations.
In 1860, a
French adventurer
Orelie-Antoine de Tounens proclaimed himself king of The Kingdom of
Araucania and Patagonia of the
Mapuche.
Captain
George Chaworth Musters in 1869 wandered in company with a band of
Tehuelches through the whole length of the country from the strait to the Manzaneros in the north-west, and collected a great deal of information about the people and their mode of life. In the 1870s the
Conquest of the Desert was a controversial campaign by the Argentine government, executed mainly by
General Julio Argentino Roca, to subdue or, some claim, to exterminate the native peoples of the South. By the mid-1880s the campaign's objectives had largely been achieved.
In 1885 a mining expeditionary party under the Romanian adventurer
Julius Popper landed in southern Patagonia in search of
gold, which they found after travelling southwards towards the lands of
Tierra del Fuego. This further opened up some of the area to prospectors.
European missionaries and settlers arrived through the 19th and 20th centuries, notably the
Welsh settlement of the
Chubut Valley.
During the first years of the 20th century, the border between the two nations in Patagonia was established by the mediation of the British crown. But it has undergone a lot of modifications since then, and there's still one place (50 km long) where there's no border established (
Southern Patagonia Icefield).
Until
1902 most of Patagonia was settled by
Chilotes who worked in cattle farming. Before and after 1902, when the boundaries were drawn, a lot of Chilotes were expelled from the Argentinian side. These workers founded the first inland Chilean settlement in what is now the
Aisén Region;
Balmaceda. Lacking good grasslands on the forest-covered Chilean side, the immigrants burned down the forest, setting fires that could have lasted more than two years.
and a short run Tren Histórico de
Bariloche to Perito Moreno.
In the second half of the 20th century, tourism became an ever more important part of Patagonia's economy. Originally a remote backpacking destination, the region has attracted increasing numbers of upmarket visitors, cruise passengers rounding
Cape Horn or visiting Antarctica, and adventure and activity holiday-makers. Principal tourist attractions include the
Perito Moreno glacier, the
Valdés Peninsula,
Torres del Paine national park, the
Argentine Lake District and
Ushuaia and
Tierra del Fuego. Tourism has created new markets locally and for export for traditional crafts such as Mapuche handicrafts, guanaco textiles, and confectionery and preserves.
Argentine Patagonian cuisine is largely the same as the cuisine of
Buenos Aires - grilled meats and pasta - with extensive use of local ingredients and less use of those products which have to be imported into the region. Lamb is considered the traditional Patagonian meat, grilled for several hours over an open fire. Some guide books have reported that game, especially guanaco and introduced deer and boar, are popular in restaurant cuisine. However, since the guanaco is a protected animal in both Chile and Argentina, it's unlikely to appear commonly as restaurant fare. Trout and
centolla (
king crab) are also common, though over-fishing of centolla has made it increasingly scarce. In the area around Bariloche, there's a noted
Alpine cuisine tradition, with chocolate bars and even
fondue restaurants, and
tea rooms are a feature of the Welsh communities in
Gaiman and
Trevelin as well as in the mountains. The Curiñanco-Nahuelquir family was evicted from their land in 2002 following Benetton's claim to it, but the land was restored in 2007.
Further Information
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